"A geometrical-physical theory as such is incapable of being directly pictured, being merely a system of concepts. But these concepts serve the purpose of bringing a multiplicity of real or imaginary sensory experiences into connection in the mind. To ‘visualise’ a theory, or bring it home to one's mind, therefore means to give a representation to that abundance of experiences for which the theory supplies the schematic arrangement" (Albert Einstein, "Geometry and Experience", 1921)
"The 'physical' does not mean any particular kind of reality, but a particular kind of denoting reality, namely a system of concepts in the natural sciences which is necessary for the cognition of reality. 'The physical' should not be interpreted wrongly as an attribute of one part of reality, but not of the other ; it is rather a word denoting a kind of conceptual construction, as, e.g., the markers 'geographical' or 'mathematical', which denote not any distinct properties of real things, but always merely a manner of presenting them by means of ideas." (Moritz Schlick, "Allgemeine Erkenntnislehre", 1925)
“Concepts can only acquire content when they are connected, however indirectly, with sensible experience. But no logical investigation can reveal this connection; it can only be experienced. […] this connection […] determines the cognitive value of systems of concepts.” (Albert Einstein, "The Problem of Space, Ether, and the Field in Physics", Mein Weltbild, 1934)
"In general, one might define a complex of semantic components connected by logical constants as a concept. The dictionary of a language is then a system of concepts in which a phonological form and certain syntactic and morphological characteristics are assigned to each concept. This system of concepts is structured by several types of relations. It is supplemented, furthermore, by redundancy or implicational rules […] representing general properties of the whole system of concepts. […] At least a relevant part of these general rules is not bound to particular languages, but represents presumably universal structures of natural languages. They are not learned, but are rather a part of the human ability to acquire an arbitrary natural language." (Manfred Bierwisch, "Semantics", 1970)
"Despite the importance of systems concepts and the attention
that they have received and are receiving, we do not yet have a unified or
integrated set (i. e., a system) of such concepts. Different terms are used to
refer to the same thing and the same term is used to refer to different things.
This state is aggravated by the fact that the literature of systems research is
widely dispersed and is therefore difficult to track. Researchers in a wide
variety of disciplines and interdisciplines are contributing to the conceptual
development of the systems sciences but these contributions are not as
interactive and additive as they might be." (Russell L Ackoff, "Towards a System
of Systems Concepts", 1971)
"The most general form of systems theory is a set of logical or mathematical statements about all conceptual systems. A subset of this concerns all concrete systems. A subsubset concerns the very special and very important living systems, i. e., general living systems theory." (James G Miller, "Living systems", 1978)
"The essence of metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another. […] Metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature.” (George Lakoff and Mark Johnson, Metaphors We Live By, 1980)
"Metaphor is for most people a device of the poetic imagination and the rhetorical flourish - a matter of extraordinary rather than ordinary language. Moreover, metaphor is typieully viewed as characteristic of language alone, a matter of words rather than thought or action. For this reason, most people think they can get along perfectly well without metaphor. We have found, on the contrary, that metaphor is pervasive in everyday life, not just in language but in thought and action. Our ordinary conceptual system, in terms of which we both think and act, is fundamentally metaphorical in nature." (George Lakoff & Mark Johnson, "Metaphors We Live by", 1980)
"Our concepts structure what we perceive, how we get around in the world and how we relate to other people. Our conceptual system thus plays a central role in defining our everyday realities." (George Lakoff & Mark Johnson, "Metaphors We Live by", 1980)
"In terms of language, we do know what a scientific theory or
conceptual system must be: it is a thematic pattern of semantic relationships
in a subject, one that is reconstructed again and again in nearly the same ways
by members of a community." (Jay Lemke, "Talking Science: Language, Learning, and
Values", 1990)
"A conceptual system is an integrated system of concepts that supports a coherent vision of some aspect of the world. A conceptual system is personal; it is a 'way of seeing', that is, a 'way of knowing'. [...] You cannot do mathematics or science without a conceptual system but such systems are not objective and permanent. They are subject to change and development. Therefore we cannot claim that the reality that we experience and work with in science is independent of the mind of the scientist." (William Byers, "Deep Thinking: What Mathematics Can Teach Us About the Mind", 2015)
"Facts and concepts only acquire real meaning and significance when viewed through the lens of a conceptual system. [...] Facts do not exist independently of knowledge and understanding for without some conceptual basis one would not know what data to even consider. The very act of choosing implies some knowledge. One could say that data, knowledge, and understanding are different ways of describing the same situation depending on the type of human involvement implied - 'data' means a de-emphasis on the human dimension whereas 'understanding' highlights it." (William Byers, "Deep Thinking: What Mathematics Can Teach Us About the Mind", 2015)
"For every conceptual system there comes a time when the system is overwhelmed by a critical mass of new phenomena and problematic elements that do not fit within the old paradigm." (William Byers, "Deep Thinking: What Mathematics Can Teach Us About the Mind", 2015)
"Reality is necessarily viewed through a conceptual system and is inseparable from the system through which it is viewed. But reality is by definition singular - there is only one reality; there cannot be two or three. Something is either real or it is not. The notion that reality is relative or that there can be two competing and inconsistent realities is disorienting and produces untenable cognitive dissonance." (William Byers, "Deep Thinking: What Mathematics Can Teach Us About the Mind", 2015)
"The moment of insight is the moment in which one grasps the concept or makes the creative leap from one conceptual system to another." (William Byers, "Deep Thinking: What Mathematics Can Teach Us About the Mind", 2015)
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